Defensive Computing

Netbook computers are small and underpowered, making them a turn-off for many. But consider the Honda Fit, which was raved about in The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

The Fit is a small, cheap, underpowered 5 door hatchback. Yet, Jeff Sabatini in the Journal said, "The Fit truly offers everything you need in a car, and nothing you don't." This is exactly the niche that Netbooks seek to occupy in the laptop computer world.

Compared with other cars in its class (the Chevrolet Aveo 5, the Nissan Versa and the Scion xD), Sabatini argues that a lot of good design choices went into the Fit. Below are some quotes from the article:

• ... a lot of car for the money--even as it's not a lot of car
• ...a car fairly well equipped with the stuff we take for granted
• It may not sound like a lot, but 117 horsepower is plenty
• [it aims] ...to be not just a good small car, but an exceptional car, period
• load up 4 adults and, despite its diminutive size, the car still doesn't feel small
• For not a lot of money the Fit is a whole lot of fun to drive

In other words, small and cheap don't have to imply a miserable user experience.

Rather than blindly ruling out Netbooks, look for one that made the right trade-offs. To my mind, this excludes models with a 9-inch screen and puts a great emphasis on the keyboard. The number of available models is huge and constantly in-flux, as are prices.

I think Netbooks are the next big thing. They will make great second computers for normal people, third computers for techies, and first computers for children. They will become mandatory take-to-class computers for students. For anyone interested in defensive computing, they will be mandatory when traveling (think both good enough and sacrificial lamb).

That said, I couldn't drive a Honda Fit as I never learned to drive a stick shift.

See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.

There is a common defensive computing thread in two recent stories.

In the first story, Newsweek reports that both presidential candidates had their campaign computers hacked from afar. As they put it:

The computer systems of both the Obama and McCain campaigns were victims of a sophisticated cyberattack by an unknown "foreign entity," prompting a federal investigation, both the FBI and the Secret Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: "You have a problem way bigger than what you understand," an agent told Obama's team. "You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system." ... Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information... "

The second story involves a former Intel employee who allegedly stole trade secrets. As CNET's Stephanie Condon writes, the employee resigned, yet continued on the Intel payroll for a few weeks (perhaps working off vacation time). During this transition period, he started working for Intel rival AMD, yet he remained in possession of his Intel laptop and still had access to Intel's computer network. The FBI later found him in possession of "top secret" Intel files worth more than $1 billion in research and development costs.

The lesson is clear. If you have really valuable or sensitive files, don't make them remotely accessible. Cut the wire. Some files should never be available off-site.

If this means buying a new computer just to hold really sensitive files, it's money well spent.

A couple years ago, I heard someone from the hacker group 2600 give out this same advice on their radio show, Off The Hook. It made sense back then and makes even more sense now.

Windows passwords are easily hacked. Instead of relying on a Windows password for local physical security, set both a power-on password and, if the computer supports it, a hard disk password. Whole disk encryption is another option, but one that involves much more work to implement.

If you put sensitive files on a laptop computer, then consider storing it in a safe when not in use. If you have a small safe, get a small laptop or a Netbook.

Laptops need more than just cutting the Ethernet wire. To begin with, turn off the Wi-Fi radio (there is probably a switch or a function key for this). If the laptop has Bluetooth, physically turn that off too.

Then, turn off the networking features in the operating system.

On Windows, turn off file sharing for every network adapter and turn off every network protocol. Then, disable all the network adapters.

Finally, disable the underlying Windows services that handle networking. On Windows XP this would be: Wireless Zero Configuration, Server, Computer Browser, Workstation and SSDP Discovery. Then since, the machine will be off-line forever, there are quite a few other Windows XP services that won't be needed and can be disabled: Automatic Updates, Distributed Link Tracking Client, Distributed Transaction Coordinator, Net Logon, NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing, Network DDE, Network DDE DSDM, Network Location Awareness (NLA), Network Provisioning Service, Remote Desktop Help Session Manager, Remote Registry and WebClient. The laptop I'm writing this on also has an Infrared Monitor service. I don't know what it's for, but I keep it disabled.

All told, this isn't much work and doesn't involve much expense. Yet, it's great insurance and can leave your sensitive files better defended than those at Intel and each presidential campaign.

See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.

If you are in the market for a Netbook computer there are many decisions to be made. The pictures here may help with a couple of them. Shown below are an Acer Aspire One and an Asus Eee PC 1000.

The Acer Aspire One (left) and the Asus Eee PC (right)

The machines are as different as any two Netbooks can be. The Acer runs Windows XP, the Asus runs Linux. The Asus has an SSD, the Acer a traditional hard disk. The Asus supports Wi-Fi N, the Acer doesn't. The smaller Acer machine has a weaker battery and was significantly cheaper.

But the picture above points out other differences (see a larger version of the picture).

The smaller Acer has a 9-inch screen, the larger Asus is 10 inches (approximately). Measuring the other sides of the triangle, the Acer screen is (approximately) 7.5 by 4.5 inches, whereas the Asus screen is 8.5 by 5 inches. Both screens have the all-but standard Netbook resolution of 1024 x 600, which means that everything is just a bit bigger and easier to see on the Asus machine.

I previously pointed out a couple of Asus Netbooks selling for less than $300. Now, one of the HP Mini-Note series has joined the elite group of really cheap Netbooks.

Liliputing, a Web site dedicated to Netbooks, reported Saturday that the HP 2133 Mini-Note just fell in price to $299 at Amazon.com.

This the bottom-of-line machine from HP's initial Netbook foray back in April.

Originally, HP sold it for $500.
On September 24, it was $432, after a rebate.
On October 20, it sold for $380.
A couple of days later, it was $330.
Now, October 25, it's $299.

The machine runs Suse Linux, has 512MB of RAM, a 4GB solid state disk and a keyboard that everyone says is great. (I have not used it myself.) The screen is 8.9 inches and runs at a higher resolution than other Netbooks. Thus, if you don't have the eyes of a hawk, this isn't the computer for you. I've read elsewhere that it gets fairly hot.

Interestingly, HP was the only company to offer Vista on a Netbook and reviews said it was slow, as you might expect, especially considering HP includes a VIA C7-M processor.

HP's cheapest Vista-based model comes with the same screen and keyboard, 1GB of RAM, and a 120GB hard disk. According to Amazon, pricing started at $630. At the end of September is was $530, after a rebate. Now, it sells sells for $404 at Amazon.

This is not meant to be a recommendation, just an observation on the pricing.

My What is a Netbook posting briefly mentioned some low end models both because those are the ones that interest me and because that's where I think the future of Netbooks lie. While many Netbooks sell for over $500, it's debatable whether any laptop computer priced over $500 can be considered a Netbook.

Brad Linder at Liliputing just compiled a list of low end Netbooks called 13 netbooks for $399 or less.

One thing missing from his brief descriptions is whether the screens have a matt or glossy finish. To me this is a big deal, I much prefer matt.

One minor nit to pick. The cheapest Acer Aspire One with Windows XP is $350 at Newegg. Brad links to it at Amazon which charges $379.

Anyone buying a Netbook has a big initial decision, Linux or Windows XP? My thoughts on that soon.

See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.

I just got a Lenovo S10 Netbook computer and couldn't have been more enthusiastic about kicking the tires. As I've written before, I think Netbooks will be very big, and this was to be my first.

So this posting should have been a first look. I should be offering my opinion on whether the keyboard is too small, what it's like to use Windows XP on such a small screen, and how hot the thing gets. But I didn't get that far.

After a delay in getting the machine the box arrived all beat up. Not unusual, of course, but computers are normally so well packaged that it doesn't matter. Not this time.

My first impression was that the box had been opened in transit; two sides weren't sealed at all. As you can see below, a golf ball easily fit in the open sides of the box.

The golf ball points up three problems:

• Something could have fallen out or been purposely removed during shipping.
• The cardboard was thin, closer to a manila envelope than something protective.
• It didn't appear that the box had been vandalized, rather two sides were never sealed in the first place.

In a nutshell, the contents were not well protected in transit.

As I examined the box and turned it over, stuff was rattling inside. I've had more than my fair share of computers mailed to me, and never before did a box arrive with stuff rattling around inside.

I removed the 4-inch strip of tape that held the outside box closed and found the computer and a white box inside as shown below.

The white interior box was the source of the rattling. As you can see in the picture below, the battery and the AC adapter are together in the box and neither was covered. There was a plastic bag in the box, but it wasn't wrapped around anything.

That Lenovo would ship a battery in a plastic bag without cushioning is, to me, poor judgment--a corner that should not have been cut. That Lenovo would ship the battery without the plastic bag actually covering the thing is poor quality control.

Am I overreacting? After all, it's a $400 laptop. Perhaps, but lithium-ion batteries are a well-known fire hazard. In normal use I'm sure they are safe, but one mistake that you can make with a lithium-ion battery is banging it. According to PC Pitstop:

There are numerous conditions where these fires can occur in real life. Faulty battery packs (driving the recalls), faulty protection circuits inside the PC, exposure to excessive heat, and blunt force are some of the major ways that this could happen to you.

Shipping an unprotected, unwrapped battery right next to a hard object is risking "blunt force."

The Department of Transportation no longer allows lithium-ion batteries in checked baggage when flying. As for carry-on bags they say that "you may still carry any number of some types of lithium batteries, such as the ones used in cell phones and most laptop computers, provided you take measures to protect terminals." Why the different policies for checked vs. carry-on bags? "In the passenger compartment, flight crews can better monitor safety conditions to prevent an incident, and can access fire extinguishers, if an incident does happen."

To further illustrate the danger, the Department of Transportation offers these suggestions for flying with a loose lithium-ion battery:

• Place tape across the battery's contacts to isolate terminals. Isolating terminals prevents short-circuiting.
• If original packaging is not available, effectively insulate battery terminals by isolating spare batteries from contact with other batteries and metal. Place each battery in its own protective case, plastic bag, or package. Do not permit a loose battery to come in contact with metal objects, such as coins, keys, or jewelry.
• Take steps to prevent crushing, puncturing, or putting a high degree of pressure on the battery, as this can cause an internal short-circuit, resulting in overheating.

As for the S10 itself, I never removed the plastic covering the computer. It's going back.

As I was deciding whether to keep the computer or not, Lenovo e-mailed a receipt for the purchase. The receipt arrived a couple days after the computer arrived, and eight days after the initial order. There was a link in the e-mail message (www.lenovo.com/products/us/returns) for how to return a purchase, but it's broken. Instead of the return policy, the link results in "There were no items matching your search." This is on top of the shipping delay because UPS said there was no label on the box.

Lenovo ThinkPads have an excellent reputation, but an IdeaPad is not a ThinkPad. The S10, in particular, is a whole new product category, one for which there is no pre-existing reputation. So things boil down to confidence and Lenovo did not inspire confidence.

My next hassle is trying to convince Lenovo not to charge me the $60 restocking fee. If you're thinking of buying a Lenovo computer, be aware that machines sold on their Web site are subject to a 15 percent restocking fee. You may be better off at a local retailer with a more liberal return policy.

Update: Unboxing other Netbooks

• The Dell Mini 9 comes wrapped in heavy cardboard and seems to have the battery already inserted.
• The battery for the MSI Wind U90 ships in plastic bubble-wrap. The computer itself comes in box inside another box.
• The Acer Aspire One battery is wrapped in plastic and seems cushioned by cardboard to keep it from moving in transit (2 minutes, 10 seconds into video).
• Laptop magazine got a very early copy of the Lenovo S10 and unboxed it on video. First point they made was that it might not be the final retail boxing. Still, their battery, like mine, shipped naked.
• Brand Linder at Liliputing did an unboxing video of the Asus Eee PC 100H. It shipped as a box within a box and the battery was protected by plastic bubble-wrap.

See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.

When I wrote an introduction to Netbooks a couple days ago, I mentioned some of the cheaper models but didn't include any from Asus. From what I'd read, their keyboards were on the smallish side, so that ruled them out for my adult fingers.

But I just ran across two Linux based Asus Eee PCs, model 900, selling for only $300, a price that forgives a multitude of sins.

There are too many Eee models for me to keep straight, but suffice it to say the 900 is last year's model. In the Netbook world, "last year" translates to a few months.

Best Buy is selling the 900A-WFBB01 for $299.99 with no rebates. It has no Webcam and two of the three reviews at BestBuy.com said the keyboard was small. Still, it comes with 1GB of RAM, a standard Intel Atom processor, a standard 8.9-inch screen running at the standard 1024x600 resolution, the obligatory media card reader and three USB ports. The solid state disk is only 4GB, definitely bottom of the line. The specs don't name the Linux distribution, but Asus uses a modified version of Xandros.

ZipZoomFly is selling the ASUS EEE PC 900-W017 for the same $299.99 (with free shipping), but only after a mail-in rebate. This, however, is a very different model 900. For one thing, it has 20GB of solid state storage instead of 4GB, and, it has a Celeron M processor rather than the Atom. It also includes a Webcam.

By way of comparison, two online retailers (Newegg and Microcenter) are selling yet another 900 model for $350. Each says theirs comes with an Intel Mobile processor and 16GB of solid state storage. What they share with their cheaper siblings is a gigabyte of RAM, the 8.9-inch screen and Linux. Yet again, the name of the Linux distribution remains a mystery. Newegg says there is a Webcam, Microcenter doesn't.

I haven't read any reviews of these machines, and, as I said in the previous posting, cheap isn't always the best way to go.

See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.

Last time, while describing the Lenovo IdeaPad S10, I offered my opinion that Netbook computers will drastically change the computing scene. A quick look at the best selling computers at Amazon.com shows many Netbooks (as of October 15, 2008 the top three computers were all Netbooks). In writing a follow-up posting, I realized that an introduction to Netbooks might be needed. So, here I try to explain just what Netbooks are and how they differ from the millions of laptop computers that existed previously.

A Netbook is a new type of laptop computer, defined by size, price, horsepower, and operating system. They are small, cheap, under-powered, and run either an old or unfamiliar operating system.

Netbooks run either Windows XP Home edition or Linux (not only is Linux unfamiliar to many, but the versions of Linux on Netbooks are not the mainstream popular distributions). They do not run XP Professional, Vista, or OS X. Microsoft arbitrarily restricts Netbooks from running the Professional Edition of Windows XP. Likewise, Apple arbitrarily restricts OS X to Apple hardware and it has never played in the low-end realm that Netbooks occupy.* Vista requires too much horsepower to run well on a Netbook. HP has been the only company to offer Vista on a Netbook. The price, however, was so high that it's debatable whether such a machine qualifies as a Netbook.

Update: On October 24, 2008 CNET's Ina Fried reported that Microsoft has plans to make Windows 7, the upcoming version of Windows that will replace Vista, available on Netbooks.

Size-wise, Netbooks have 9- or 10-inch screens, weigh from 2 to 3 pounds, and sport keyboards sized from 80 percent to 95 percent of normal.

Price-wise, Netbooks start at about (all prices are rounded off and approximate) $330 for a Linux-based model and $350 for an XP-based machine. The high end of the Netbook price range is debatable. To me, anything over $500 isn't a Netbook. Still, many companies are marketing computers they refer to as Netbooks for more than that. When HP first released their Mini-Notes, prices ran from $500 to $1,200.
Update: As of October 15, 2008 prices at HP's website range from $400 to $780.

Despite a huge proliferation of Netbook models, these specs seem to be standard:

• Screen resolution 1024x600
• Intel Atom CPU running at 1.6-GHz
• Wi-Fi B and G
• Ethernet at 100Mbps
• A slot for a flash RAM memory card
• External VGA output jack
• Integrated graphics
• Two or three USB ports
• Built-in camera
• Headphone and microphone jacks

What's missing

What's missing is just as interesting.

For one thing, there is no optical drive. CDs and DVDs had to be thrown overboard to reduce both the size and cost. Another omission is the now legacy PC card (aka PCMCIA) slot. Most Netbooks don't include Bluetooth. And, while they do have Ethernet and Wi-Fi, they don't include the fastest version of Ethernet (known as gigabit Ethernet), the latest version of Wi-Fi (N) or the older "A" version of Wi-Fi.

I understand these omissions and many people can live with them. However, I think manufacturers are making a mistake by not including a telephone modem. For many, communication will be the main purpose of their Netbook and there are still places where the only means of getting online is dialing the telephone.

The latest technology for online access is a 3G data network. Netbooks, as a rule, don't yet support 3G networks, but that will surely change in the near future. Some will have the necessary hardware built in at the factory, others will support ExpressCard modems, the rest will make do with USB connections. Then too, a cell phone can provide mobile Internet access and communicate with the Netbook using Bluetooth.

Ever-present Internet connections could make a huge difference in the popularity of Netbooks. Look what it has done for the Kindle.

What differs

One of the big differences among Netbook models is the storage medium, some have spinning platter hard disks, other come with solid-state disks (SSDs).

Frequently the Linux based Netbooks employ SSDs whereas the Windows XP models use a standard hard disk. The reasons for this include: Windows XP needs more storage space, SSDs are more expensive and Windows itself is more expensive than Linux.

Another reason has to do with the speed of SSDs--the cheap models are very slow at writing, especially at random writes. Kevin C. Tofel at jkOnTheRun did an interesting test. He started with an SSD-based Acer Aspire One running Linux. The machine was reasonably zippy at running Linux, but just for fun he installed Windows XP on it. XP ran as slow as molasses. There is a huge variation in SSDs, and I don't know if XP performs reasonably well on the SSDs in other Netbooks. You can buy an SSD that's faster than a spinning platter disk in all respects (including random reads and random writes), but you may not want to pay for it.

Another difference among Netbooks is battery life/power, with low-end models having 3-cell batteries and higher-end models having 6 cells.

To me, a big feature is the screen surface. Most Netbooks seem to have glossy screens, which Alfred Poor points out are cheaper. I prefer an antiglare coating.
Update October 15, 2008: So too does fellow CNET blogger Dave Rosenberg.

Low-end models

There are far too many Netbook models for a blogger like me to keep up with. But, I pay attention to the cheap ones and below is a sampling of current models and pricing. Cheapest isn't necessarily the best. For example, if battery life is important to you, you'll need to spend more for stronger battery.

The Lenovo S10 is among the cheaper Windows XP machines. It starts at $400 with an 80GB spinning platter hard disk, a 10-inch antiglare screen and 512MB of ram. The XP version of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 also sells for $400 and includes 512MB of RAM and a 9-inch glossy screen. However, the Mini 9 comes with 8GB of solid-state storage.

Perhaps the best bargain in an XP Netbook is the Acer Aspire One. It sells for as low as $350 with 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard disk and a 9-inch glossy screen.

Acer is also a bargain on the Linux side. Pricing starts at $330 (here and here) with a 9-inch glossy screen, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of solid state storage, and Acer's own version of Linux, Linpus.

For $350 you can buy a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 running a much more standard version of Linux, Ubuntu. It comes with a 9-inch glossy screen, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of solid state storage.

When they were first introduced, the HP Mini-Notes were seriously expensive. The keyboard was loved by all reviewers and the screen was a higher resolution and thus offered a sharper image. They were, however, released too soon to include an Atom processor and reviewers felt they were a bit under-powered. In the five or so months since they were released, they've come down in price. A low-end Linux model, the HP 2133-KR922UT with 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of solid state storage sells for $370 at Amazon.com. It runs SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and includes an ExpressCard Slot.

If you're willing to live with last years model and a small keyboard, you can get an Asus Linux based Netbook for $300.

Keeping up

New devices mean new experts. Among the sites keeping up on the latest Netbooks are jkOnTheRun, Laptop magazine, Liliputing, and Electric Vagabond.com. I don't have a lot of experience with these sites, but jkOnTheRun is my favorite so far.

One thing to note, however: technical reviewers often get better Netbooks than you and me. Models are constantly changing and PR people get reviewers the latest and greatest. For machines that are under-powered by definition, a small upgrade, such as doubling the RAM, can make a big difference in performance. When reading any review, be aware of the specs, the model being discussed may not be the one available at your local retailer.

Also be aware that Netbooks are changing very quickly. The Wikipedia inventory of available and planned models is huge, especially considering that the first Netbook was released only a year ago. By the time the electrons dry on a Netbook review, something in it is outdated.

Going forward

Despite being underpowered, Netbooks will be extremely popular because they will go where no computer has gone before. Their small size and low cost will open up new applications, that we can only guess at.

For years techies and the public focused on the cutting edge of personal computing. Netbooks are dull technology-wise, the equivalent of last year's model. But for many applications, they are good enough. Many things have been popular because they were cheaper than the competition and although not as good, were thought to be good enough.

How will Netbooks affect personal computing going forward?

For one, they'll introduce more people to Linux. Perhaps the inherent safety of Linux, shared with OS X, will popularize it with users sick and tired of fending off malicious software.

Netbooks will help keep Windows XP alive and well, not that it needs any help. I suspect that very few people want Vista when they buy a new Windows computer. Some of them tolerate it, others don't know they have a choice. The New York Times had a story headlined How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Tolerate Vista that included this:

"Taming Vista on my Intel chip-equipped Sony Vaio laptop became, after a while, a measure of maintaining patience, never mind sanity. Sure, there was a day recently when I could've thrown the thing out of the window and into the backyard, and then made tracks to the Mac Pro desktop in the basement."

I think that Netbooks will be the first computer for a whole generation of children, starting, perhaps, as early as the upcoming holiday season.

Netbooks will help and benefit from the transition away from plastic DVDs as a movie medium to electronic media. Likewise, they will help and be helped by the transition to SSDs and away from spinning platter hard disks. Same with cloud computing, no matter how you define it.

Netbooks may make the Kindle into a dinosaur. Why carry a small box that does one thing, when you can carry a small box that does many things? Why buy a dedicated Internet radio, when a Netbook can do that? Why buy a small DVD player if you can get a movie on a flash memory card? Why buy a high-end smart phone, when a Netbook can do all that on a larger screen? It's an exciting future for Netbooks.

For standard computing tasks, the small Netbook screen and keyboard will, no doubt, limit its audience. That said, you can always connect a Netbook to an external monitor, a real mouse and/or a real keyboard. And software tricks can be played to increase the font size when an external monitor is not available.

Soon: what Netbooks have to do with defensive computing.

*CNET's Erica Ogg wrote that it's unlikely Apple will come out with a Netbook. See Three things Apple won't do from October 15, 2008.
See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.

The S10 is here, I ordered one yesterday and I'm psyched. The IdeaPad S10 is Lenovo's just-released entry in the Netbook market. "Netbook" is a new term that's applied to cheap small laptops that run either Windows XP Home Edition or Linux. No Vista or OS X here (neither is cheap).

One reason Netbooks are cheap is that they are underpowered, by current standards. Yet, they have more than sufficient horsepower to do the things most people do most of the time.

(Credit: Lenovo)

I think Netbooks will drastically change the computing scene.

For some of us, they should make excellent secondary computers. For children, they could make great first computers. And, with prices starting at $325, Netbooks are almost an impulse buy. In contrast, the cheapest MacBook notebook costs $1,099. This may not be a good time to invest in Apple stock.

Netbooks are small, but I think people will find they are not so small as to be annoying.

The original Netbook, the Asus Eee had a 7-inch screen. It was wildly popular, but, to me, the screen was too small. Skype barely fit on the screen and Web pages required too much scrolling. Most Netbooks now have 9-inch screens, the S10 screen is 10.2 inches.

Another big thing to me about the S10 is the anti-glare screen. I'm wary that the glossy screens on the Acer Aspire One and the Dell Mini 9s may be a constant annoyance.

Keyboards are small too, roughly 80 percent to 90 percent of normal. The original Asus Eee keyboard was so small that I could barely type on it. My adult fingers just didn't fit. I haven't used the S10 yet, but if there ever was a company capable of making a good keyboard it's Lenovo. Their ThinkPads have excelled at keyboards for years. CNET said the S10 has a "decent-size keyboard (for a Netbook)". Wired said "Touch-typing is as easy as it gets in this category."

The keyboard on the Acer Aspire One has gotten good reviews but the placement of the mouse buttons is said to be sub-optimal. I fear that might be a constant annoyance especially for someone using the computer where an external mouse is not an option, such as on their lap. Interestingly, the Dell Mini 9 dealt with the small size of the keyboard by doing away with the row of Fx keys along the top. I've seen adults criticize the new Asus Netbooks for the keyboard still being too small. The HP Mini-Notes are said to have great keyboards, but not enough else to make them serious contenders.

When CNET wrote about the S10 way back on September 25th (2 weeks is a long time in the Netbook world) the only available model was $439. Now, there is also a $399 model for sale at Lenovo.com. CNET's demo unit had 1GB of ram and a 160GB hard disk. My only choices yesterday were 512MB of ram and an 80GB hard disk. I've run Windows XP on many computers with 512MB of ram and found it perfectly acceptable.

The two available models differ only in price and color. The $399 model is white, the $439 one is red (more colors are on way). I opted for white. Interestingly, other Netbooks are not priced by color. Comparable Dell Mini 9s are the same price regardless of the color. Newegg sells comparable models of both the Acer Aspire One and the Asus Eee for the same price regardless of the color.

Operating System

The S10 runs Windows XP Home Edition (Microsoft does not allow XP Professional on Netbook computers). Many competing Netbook vendors, such as Dell and Acer, offer both XP and Linux. In general, Linux is cheaper. The Linux version of the Acer Aspire One, for example, starts at $325. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 starts at $349 with Linux. In each case, sister XP-based models are more expensive.

Linux needs less hard-disk space than Windows, thus many Linux-based Netbooks come with solid-state drives (SSDs). SSDs are the wave of the future but their cost limits their storage capacity in a cheap computer. Linux can fit in a few gigabytes, Windows XP can't. The one downside, to me, of the S10 is that it comes with a legacy spinning-platter hard disk. Hard disks are fragile compared to SSDs, and not the best choice for use on a moving train or bus.

One annoyance with Linux is choice, there's just too much of it. Some Netbook vendors, such as Acer and Asus, created their own versions of Linux. My preference is for one of the major Linux distributions and Dell has, to me, made the best choice here. Their Mini 9 comes with Ubuntu. I previously wrote about the Ubuntu user interface; suffice it say, I think Windows users will take to it very easily with hardly any learning curve. In fact, Ubuntu running Open Office may be a simpler transition for an XP user than moving to Vista with Office 2007.

Which brings up an interesting question. Why pay $315 for the standard edition of Office 2007, when you can get an entire Netbook computer for just a bit more and install the free Open Office?

Linux, like OS X, benefits hugely just from not being Windows, and thus being immune to the vast majority of malicious software. A Linux-based Netbook would be appropriate for a child or anyone for whom antivirus and anti-spyware software is just too much to hassle with.

My shoulder is looking forward to carrying a 2.5-pound Netbook rather than a 6-or 7-pound laptop/notebook.

Update. October 11,2008. As an indicator of how quickly things change in the new Netbook world, take the pricing of the Lenovo S10. According to jkOnTheRun, both available colors (white and red) sold for $439 on October 7, 2008. On the 8th they noted that the white model dropped to $399. On the 10th, I noticed that the red one was down to $429. Then again, on October 7th, Wired wrote about a $469 S10 model, but with beefier specs. Circuit City is planning on selling one of these higher end S10s for $450, but, today at least, they don't have any in stock.

Update October 20, 2008. This did not end well.

See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.